1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protector mounted on the edge of a movable panel of an apertured roof of a vehicle, and more particularly to a protector for a movable panel disposed within a roof aperture to prevent the entry of rain drops and the like into the vehicle interior which tend to enter through a clearance formed between the edge of the movable panel and the adjacent edge of the roof aperture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior proposed roof structure including a movable panel is shown in FIG. 1, wherein the movable panel 3 is mounted within an aperture 2 of a roof with its front edge detachably engaged with the front edge of the roof aperture by means of a hinge and with the rear edge attached to the rear edge of the roof aperture 2 by means of a lock. The movable panel 3 can be removed from the roof aperture 2 so that the roof aperture 2 is left open, when desired.
In this known roof structure, in order to prevent metal to metal contact of the edge of the movable panel 3 with the edge of the roof aperture and to provide a seal, a protector 4 is mounted on the edge of the movable panel. The protector 4 is provided with an integral sealing piece 5 adapted to selably contact with an upper surface of the roof 1 when the movable panel 3 is in its closed position.
The roof 1 is formed with a downwardly bending flange 6 from the edge of the roof aperture 2. Fixedly secured to the flange 6 is a frame F formed with a water collecting channel 7 and a seal rubber 8 is fixedly mounted to the inward edge of the water collecting channel 7 to sealably contact with the interior surface of the movable panel 3 when the movable panel 3 is in its closed position. According to this structure, rain drops 9 and the like having entered through a clearance between the sealing piece 5 and the roof 1 are collected in the water collecting channel 7 to be discharged to the vehicle exterior. The function of the seal rubber 8 is to prevent the rain drops and the like having been collected within the water collecting channel 7 from entering into the vehicle interior.
However, the structure using the known protector still allows the rain drops and the like having entered through the clearance formed between the mating surfaces of the sealing piece 5 and the roof 1 to flow inwardly along the lower surface of the protector 4 and the interior surface of the movable panel 3 to enter into the vehicle interior through a clearance formed between the interior surface of the movable panel 3 and the seal rubber 8. Besides, since the sealing piece 5 contacts directly with the roof 1 when the movable panel 3 is in its closed position, there is the possibility that the sealing piece 5 may damage or peel off the painting film on the surface of the roof. Where the movable panel 3 is happened to be pressed downwardly further from its the closing position, the sealing piece 5 may break from its root. Moreover, if the movable panel 3 is left outside for a long time under a hot day, the thermal deformation of the protector 4 is unavoidable.